World's Apart Ch. 01

"Crap!" Eddy said under strained breath as he ran to catch the bus. The smell of gasoline filled his nose as it pulled away from the stop. His large belly bounced up and down as he reached out and waved for the driver to stop. Sweat trickled down his neck, staining his black shirt. With the last bit of air in his lungs Eddy yelped, "Wait!"

Despite his efforts the bus continued driving, leaving Eddy stranded and late for his afternoon classes. Eddy couldn't help but feel defeated. This was the third time he missed the same bus this week. He bent over, resting his hands on his knees to catch his breath when he heard a honk come from behind him.

"Eddy!" A voice yelled from the car. The red car stopped next to Eddy and the girl in the passenger seat waved.

"Stephanie?" Eddy answered the raven haired girl. As she waved, Eddy saw the delightful jiggle of her breast from under her tank top. The heat may have been getting to him, but he was certain that he spotted the outline of her raised nipple from under her top. The thought sent a jolt straight to his crotch, waking his cock.

"Do you need a ride?" Stephanie asked, lifting up her shades revealing her bright blue eyes. "The buses aren't always on time."

"Um, sure," Eddy nodded, as he shuffled over to the car. When he got in, the guy in the driver's seat stared daggers at Eddy. Seeing the hostility, Eddy tried to break the ice. "Thanks for giving me a ride, Jace."

"Oh, it's no problem," Jace said through gritted teeth, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "It brings me joy whenever I can help you out, Eddy."

Stephanie lightly slapped Jace across the shoulder, showing her disapproval. "Jace stop being a jerk." She then looked over her seat, "I can't believe that bus just left you. You should complain to the bus company."

"Yeah... I'll do that during break," Eddy shrugged. It wasn't in his nature to go and complain if something didn't go his way, but he was glad that Stephanie took such an interest in his wellbeing. She's been doing that a lot recently, much to everyone's surprise.

"Good," Stephanie nodded. "So what have you been up to? Whenever I see you at the campus lounge you're always drawing something in your sketchbook."

The question perked Eddy up almost instantly. "I've actually been drawing up characters for my own comic book. That's why I came to art school, honestly."

"I call him The Gargoyle, and he's this super rich hero that wears armor and fights for justice!"

Surprise painted Stephanie's face, but the look was quickly replaced by one of interest. "And who is this super rich hero, does he have a name?"

"Well, I've been playing around with the name Wayne Richards, but I'm not sure."

Stephanie placed a finger on her lips, as if she was thinking. "I don't know, that name doesn't really sound right to me. I'll think up of some later and you can tell me what you think.

"Oh c'mom babe, you can't think that comic books are cool," Jace said as he changed lanes.

"I didn't give them much thought before," she said. "But Eddy's passion about them makes me wanna check some out."

A small smile spread across Eddy's lips. He was happy that his character gave him a chance to interact more with Stephanie. The rest of the car ride was silent, with the radio turned off. Instead Stephanie started to hum, filling the car with a soothing tune.

Eddy was so mesmerized that he didn't notice he was staring at her. When their eyes met through the rear view mirror, Eddy turned away and mumbled, "That was really nice."

"Thank you," Stephanie chirped. "I hope I sound good, I've been paying a ton to go to school for it."

"It's definitely paying off, babe," Jace butted in as he pulled the car into the student parking lot. He then gave Stephanie a peck on the lips, to her embarrassment.

"Jace! Not in front of Eddy," she whined, a hint of blush spreading.

"Oh c'mon, Eddy doesn't mind. Right?"

Eddy did mind. He didn't want to see Stephanie getting kissed by someone else. But what could he say? If Eddy told them the truth Jace would call him a prude or worse, find out that Eddy really did love Stephanie. So he said nothing. He just gathered his things and opened the door. "Thanks again guys, see you later."

Eddy could hear Stephanie yelling after him, but he didn't stop. He waddled his way to the shuttle to take him onto campus. Like always, Eddy was the last one on the bus and had to squeeze his way to find a seat.

The first of his two classes was Digital Imaging and his professor was the worst. He dreaded this class and was pretty sure the professor hated him. Class was held in a lab with state of the art computers and tablets. Thankfully the air condition was always blasting. It was a godsend after Eddy had to endure the near summer heat.

"Late again Mr. Johnson," sighed Professor Claudia Ellsworth as she looked away from her presentation. She brushed her dyed blue grey hair from her face and rested her hands on her hips. "Well don't make a spectacle of yourself, take your seat."

Eddy grunted, and found his station. He took out his tablet and started to type out the notes that were displayed. Professor Ellsworth's class usually had a fourth of the time spent lecturing on the best techniques and the rest of the time the class used their tablets to see if they could follow along.

"Alright, enough of boring notes. Everyone take out your tablets and open up PicCreator," Professor Ellsworth instructed. "You've got the rest of class to show me what you've learned."

Eddy tried all semester to put what he learned onto the page, but it was always difficult for him. His pieces just never seemed to cut it for Professor Ellsworth. His grades were subpar at best and he was worried that he'd have to repeat the class. But he didn't give up, no matter how many times he need to create the same image. He needed to learn this stuff so he could become a comic artist.

In the midst of his drawing, Eddy felt a tap on his back. He turned to see the sharp eye of his ever watching professor. Before moving on, she whispered, "See me for office hours today."

The professor's suggestion left Eddy so anxious that he couldn't even concentrate for the rest of the period. His work suffered and he couldn't complete the assignment. During lunch Eddy was on autopilot. He went to his favorite food truck and got his usual cheesesteak, almost inhaling it, not tasting anything. When the free period was over, Eddy trudged over to the Art Building where he stared at the Professor's door for what seemed like forever. When he finally mustered the courage to knock, the door opened and he was face to face with the Professor.

"How long were you going to make me wait? My office hours started twenty minutes ago." Since she was a new professor, her office was small with only a bookshelf and a desk for her computer. He took the seat across and waited for his demise. From under her desk, Eddy could see her black stockings. His eyes trailed them up from her feet to her thighs, where they ended and her tanned skin became visible. "I'll just get right to the point. Why did you come to an arts college?"

This was the same question that Stephanie asked him earlier, but he could tell that the conversation would go down differently. However Eddy didn't back down. "It's my dream to become a comic book artist, I wanna create super heroes." He pulled out his sketchbook and pulled up all the images he's drawn on his tablet and showed it to the Professor. "This is The Gargoyle, I created him and one day I want him to be a real comic book."

"And how are you going to do that?" Professor Ellsworth asked as she flipped through his drawings, unimpressed. "From what I've seen, you don't have a knack for Digital Imaging. I spoke to your academic advisor and your grades from last semester weren't that great and they're worse this semester."

Eddy stared at his lap and gripped his hands into fists, his nails biting into his palms. "I'm trying my best."

"Trying isn't good enough," Professor Ellsworth interrupted. She leaned forward, giving Eddy and peek at her cleavage. Unfortunately, the situation prevented him from truly enjoying it. "With these grades, you won't make it very far. You need to work harder. You wouldn't want to waste your money."

The meeting continued like that. The professor pointed out every single one of Eddy's flaws before she let him free. It took everything in him to hold back tears. Not only did she tell him he sucked, but she basically said that he didn't belong at the college. "Why am I such a screw up?" Eddy sighed to himself. He decided to skip his Intro to Art History class and lounge under The Tree, a giant tree that stood in the middle of the campus. The shade was cooling and since everyone was still in class, it was calm.

The vibration in his pocket broke Eddy from his daydream. He received a message from the school's chat app. It said, "Hey scramblED! What are you up to?"

The message was from FonieSongbird, the one and only friend he made through the app. They've been chatting ever since they started college, but they've never met in person.

"Really? Well I got something that'll really help you out! I heard that some frat guys are throwing a party at their house tonight. It's supposed to be hush hush, but do you wanna go?"

Eddy typed back, "I don't know, parties aren't my thing."

"C'mon it'll be fun! We can finally meet up in real life."

That struck a chord with Eddy. He's wondered who FonieSongbird was since they started chatting. It's been a semester and a half and it's still a mystery. Defeated by his curiosity he typed back, "Fine, I'll go."

"GREAT! I'll send you the directions when I get out of class," FonieSongbird typed before logging off.

The rest of the day passed by like a blur and before he knew it, Eddy made it back home. FonieSongbird already sent him the details of the party and told him to find the person wearing a flower in their hair. Eddy's mind started racing.

He jumped into the shower, the cold water washing away the day's stresses. This would be his first party ever. No one ever invited him and he didn't want the invitation. He remembered the kids from his high school that would throw parties while their parents were away. They always ended up trashing the house or the cops would be called because of the noise. He didn't want to be part of the craziness.

Maybe that's the reason why he didn't get that close with Stephanie. She was always at those types of parties, where she'd dance and drink the night away. His mind instantly jumped to Stephanie's beautiful breasts. Eddy remembered the way they bounced when she waved to him. He imagined what they would look like if she was naked. He wondered what her nipples looked like after he sucked on them. His cock started to get hard and it ached to be stroked. Using the image in his mind, Eddy lathered soap into his cock and started jerking himself off.

His recurring fantasy was that Stephanie was his girlfriend. He would be the one to kiss her lips. That those lips would wrap around his cock and suck him until he came, filling her mouth with his seed. He wanted her to dress up for him, to get dolled up so they could go out on dates. He wanted to hold her in his arms. He wouldn't mind going to parties if she was with him. He wanted to show off that such a hot girl was his and everyone would be jealous of him.

Soon, Eddy felt a pulsing at the base of his cock. He jerked off faster, mumbling the name of the girl that drove him wild. "Stephanie... Oh, Steph!"

Ribbons of cum erupted from Eddy's cock, coating the walls of his shower and dribbling onto his knuckles. Once the initial pleasure subsided, guilt soon took its place.

Eddy washed himself off and got dressed for the party. Since he never went to one before, he didn't know what to wear. Wanting to be safe, he opted for his usual cargo pants and hoodie. He slicked back his long black hair and went to catch the closest bus. His stepparents always worked late, so he didn't have to give them an explanation as to why he was going out.

When Eddy got there, music was blaring and he could feel the vibrations coming from the speakers placed outside. Eddy walked over to the entrance to be stopped by a hulking senior wearing a frat shirt. "I'm here for the party," Eddy said.

"Get lost, loser," he said, pointing away with his thumb.

"Crap," Eddy thought to himself. Was his first party about to be over before he even set foot in it? Was his only chance to meet FonieSongbird about to be taken away from him? "I'm meeting with someone, can I get in?"

"I already told you to get lost," the frat boy repeated.

"Hey asshole, he's with me."

Eddy looked back to find that Stephanie was the one that said those words. Eddy almost did a double take to make sure he wasn't dreaming. She looked amazing, with skinny jeans that hugged her hips perfectly and a black halter top. But what surprised Eddy was the flower clip that she placed on her hair.

The frat guy gave Stephanie a look over, a toothy grin forming. "Baby, you can do so much better."

"And you can do better on your pickup lines," Stephanie dismissed as she slipped her arm around the crook of Eddy's elbow. "C'mon Eddy, let's go inside." She took the lead, dragging Eddy into the frat house.

"Wait, Stephanie, what are you doing here?" Eddy managed to get across the music.

"I was looking for you, scramblED," Stephanie answered, sticking her tongue out. She guided him to a balcony where the music wasn't as loud.

Eddy's eyes grew wide. "Wait, you mean..."

"I'm FonieSongbird," she finished, pointing to the flower clip that held up her hair. "Told you I'd wear a flower in my hair."

"No no no no. This can't be," Eddy shook his head in denial. He remembered everything he shared with FonieSongbird. He spilled his heart and soul about how he felt about Stephanie. He felt betrayed. He pulled himself away from Stephanie, bumping into other partiers. "How could you?"

She tried to step closer to Eddy, but he retreated. Seeing this caused Stephanie to frown. It was a face that Eddy never thought he'd cause her to make. "Look, I didn't tell you because you'd close up on me like you always do. Using the app was the only way I was able to actually talk to you. You've been pushing me away Eddy, and enough is enough!"

"What do you mean pushing you away?" Eddy yelled. "You never talked to me until we came to college. You actually went out of your way to avoid me in high school."

"Things are different now!" Stephanie said. "I'm not the person I was in high school."

"You say that like years have past! We graduated last year, how much could change in that time?"

"I wasn't, but one of the frat guys told me you were here with this fatass and I didn't want that," Jace answered, cracking his knuckles. "Now why the fuck were you yelling at my girl?"

Before Eddy could answer he felt Jace's fist dig deep into his stomach, knocking the wind right out of him. He fell to his knees, his hands shot straight where Jace punched him. Pain radiated from his center as he tried to catch his breath, but the air wouldn't fill his lungs. Then he felt something connect with his jaw, knocking him to the ground. Jace must have kicked him and now his vision blurred. Eddy could take blood in his mouth and he instinctively spat it out.

"Jace!" Stephanie yelled, trying to pull her boyfriend away from Eddy. Eddy could hear a crowd starting to form and people cheering Jace on.

Jace shrugged her off, feeding off the crowds energy. "Back off babe, I've been waiting a real long time to beat this fucker's ass."

Eddy closed his eyes tight, getting ready for more pain. But the pain never came.

"This doesn't look like a fair fight," a familiar voice said.

Finally able to catch his breath, Eddy looked up to find that from beyond the balcony, a bright light appeared to tear a hole on the sky. From that hole, emerged a metallic being with large wings.

"What the..." Jace whispered.

"Jace Crawford, your actions have put a dent in my timetable," the winged being said. It open its palm and a shockwave shot out from it, knocking Jace back into the crowd.

Eddy couldn't believe his eyes. In front of him was the Gargoyle, clad in metallic armor, like it came right off his sketch book. He just did an attack that Eddy came up with.

"Gargoyle! You made it!" Stephanie yelled.

Gargoyle turned its head, the red glow of its eyes staring at Stephanie. "The portal won't hold, let's go." Gargoyle then lunged forward and grabbed Eddy from under his arms and with a grunt thrust him through the portal.

Entering the tunnel of light was bumpier than Eddy expected. His eyes were closed through most of the travel, but he could feel the turbulence while he was held in Gargoyle's arms.

"Hang tight, we're almost there," Gargoyle instructed. The last few moments were the bumpiest and the contents of Eddy's stomach threatened to make a reappearance. Once the shaking stopped Gargoyle said, "We're here, you can open your eyes now."

"This is..." Eddy's eyes went wide. He was transported into a large laboratory, armed with several computer monitors and machines. Behind him was a circular gate that they exited from. Everything was just like he envisioned. "This is the Cathedral!" He exclaimed. Still woozy from traveling, Eddy stumbled back.

"You okay?" Stephanie asked as she helped steady him. Her bright blue eyes stared into his own, like they pierced down to his soul.

"Yeah," he grumbled. "But this is crazy, how can we be in the Cathedral, it looks just like the drawing in my sketchbook.

"Correct, you are now in the Cathedral," Gargoyle said, stepping toward him. Now that Eddy got a better look at the Gargoyle, the more he was amazed. Every detail in The Gargoyle's armor was constructed, from the silver armor to the large wings, even the helmet resembles the gothic gargoyles.

"How is this possible? How are you real?" Eddy asked.

"This may come as a shock to you, Eddy, but you just traveled to another dimension," Gargoyle explained. "The gate behind you is called the Jumper and it allows us to cross the barrier between worlds."

Dimensions and other worlds were just words that Eddy heard out of science fiction. What he knew was that his own comic book character was before him and in the face of his creation, this was his chance to protect the girl he loved. "I'm grateful that you stopped Jace, but did you need to kidnap me and Stephanie?" Eddy asked, staring Gargoyle down.

"The Stephanie from your dimension died in a drunk driving accident after you both graduated high school. The Stephanie that you've come to know and fall in love with is from this dimension," Gargoyle explained. "Even you should have realized it strange that the girl that once shunned your existence would openly speak to you?"

Gargoyle was right. During orientation Stephanie started talking to him out of the blue. She was a nuisance at first. He couldn't stand the stares that came from the guys that drooled over the ground she walked. But as the semester passed, Eddy became more comfortable talking to her and that comfort developed into feelings of love.